NOVEL WEB Chapter 11
“Is that you, Su-Jin?”
“Oh, look at that, at least you didn’t forget my voice!”
Kim Donghu couldn’t wrap his head around Kim Sujin’s voice that followed.
“How could she get in touch?” he thought, just as the query was about to bother him.
Kim Sujin answered with her next words.
“What do you think exchanging business cards is for?”
To be honest, Kim Donghu felt a bit wronged.
No matter how you slice it, their bond was from when they were five years old.
Keeping in touch just because they were kindergarten buddies? That was absurd.
Moreover, for an ordinary person to contact a top star made it even crazier.
If the top star reached out first, that would be one thing.
But sending a “What’s up?” out of the blue? Not happening.
Plus, the business card exchange was done by their moms.
The notion of ordinary moms and top star moms exchanging cards and keeping in touch?
That was a stretch.
But that was exactly what Kim Sujin’s mom, Kim Yu-ryun, did.
Not often, but once or twice a year,
Kim Yu-ryun regularly kept in touch with Kim Donghu’s mom, Lee Yoo-hyun.
There were two reasons for that.
– Ultimately, it turns out Kim Donghu is the best-looking guy!
One was that her daughter’s childhood crush was still ongoing.
The other was the brief glimpse of radiant talent she had witnessed.
She could see that kid was destined to live with the camera.
Born for acting, truly someone designed to be an actor.
There’s no way they’d let go of a connection like that.
But that didn’t mean she played a role in fostering communication between the kids.
“They’ll figure it out on their own.”
And so about ten years passed.
During that time, Kim Yu-ryun and Lee Yoo-hyun became quite close, to the point of sharing some personal stories.
That day was no different.
It was the day for their quarterly catch-up call.
The moms were chatting away about their kids.
Suddenly, Lee Yoo-hyun brought up a new topic.
“By the way, our son created an account on Face-Whatchamacallit? Face-Tomb? Whatever, you know that thing.”
“Oh my, really?”
At that moment, a variable occurred.
Kim Yu-ryun switched her phone to speaker mode for a casual chat.
Just then, Kim Sujin walked into the living room and overheard the conversation.
The sense of betrayal Kim Sujin felt was beyond imagination.
No matter how forced it seemed,
her mom had been hiding the fact that she kept bringing up Kim Donghu!
From that moment, Kim Sujin rushed her mom to get Kim Donghu’s number.
And that led to the current situation.
“Why didn’t you become an actor?”
The truth was, Kim Sujin hadn’t actively looked for Kim Donghu either.
After all, she believed she would see him at a broadcasting station someday.
“I naturally thought we’d meet in the same project, or at least a similar one.”
But there was none? Turns out, you hadn’t done any work since that day.
“I was even worried something might have happened.”
– No, it’s not like that…
You can feel Kim Donghu’s flustered voice over the receiver.
‘Just hearing his voice isn’t enough.’
Even considering the charges, I need to see his face.
With that conclusion, Kim Sujin quickly switched the call to video chat.
“Ha, Kim Donghu, you’re seriously nuts?”
She saw a girl sticking right next to Kim Donghu.
+++++
– I have so much to say, but I’ll hold back. You better text me tonight! Okay?
“Okay, I got it.”
– Then I’m hanging up.
“Yeah.”
– Huh? Is this how we end? Don’t you watch TV? You have no idea who just called you, do you?
‘His kindergarten personality hasn’t changed at all.’
Sujin still knew very well that she was pretty.
A high-minded princess who would definitely get what she wanted.
She was still the same.
“I’m really honored. I’ll contact you after I’m done, so hang up. You look like you need to get on TV.”
– …Yeah, really contact me! If you don’t reach out first, I’ll die!
Click.
As soon as the call with Sujin wrapped up awkwardly…
“…Who just called you?”
Ye-rim asked, surprised, her eyes widened as she stared at me.
“Kim Sujin, don’t you know her?”
“No, I asked to know! You… you know Kim Sujin?”
“We went to kindergarten together.”
How does that even lead to video calls?
Shin Ye-rim had a face that was holding back that line.
“Are you going to become an actor?”
“Uh, not right now.”
It wasn’t the right time yet.
A little later, when YouTube becomes popular and social media is fully utilized.
It wouldn’t be too late to move then.
For now, just building recognition in various fields was enough.
It was still a time when individual power was weak.
If the agency says jump, you jump, and you couldn’t overcome unfair contracts.
At least six years needed to pass before it would be worth trying to be an actor.
‘At least when I turn twenty, when I become a legal adult, that’s the key moment to start moving.’
Until then, enjoying the school days and having some fun would be good for mental health.
In an era where real-time search rankings existed.
Could there be another time when public opinion moved so easily?
The moment I made it onto the real-time search rankings, known as “real-time search keywords,” the controversy list was over.
“It’s not my time yet.”
The goal isn’t just to debut as a rookie but to debut as an experienced newcomer.
I had to carefully lay the groundwork for that.
“So you’re saying you’ll do it later?”
“Right?”
To aim for the peak of this handsome face, a lot of people need to see it.
Isn’t the pinnacle of a good-looking face being a celebrity?
Since I was born for it, it would be foolish not to utilize my talent.
While I was chatting with Shin Ye-rim on the way home,
“Is your name Kim Donghu?”
“Huh?”
A girl I had never seen before blocked my path.
“Oh, I’m not a suspicious person. I’m Jeon Gyeong-mi, a scout from ST Entertainment.”
She said, holding out a business card from ST Entertainment.
+++++
After receiving the ST Entertainment business card, scouts from the agency began visiting every day or every couple of days.
In the past, it was just a simple, “Hey, you’re good-looking, wanna give this a try?” but now they were seriously introducing business cards and company visions.
“No, I don’t have any plans to do that right now.”
“Right now? What does that mean? Are you saying you might do it later?”
Did I answer too ambiguously? Every time I replied, it ended up like this.
“But they really know how to keep their boundaries.”
I wonder if they’ve scouted child actors more than once.
The scouts all stopped just short of being a nuisance.
Still, the fact that they came shouldn’t be overlooked.
Within Shinbit Middle School, my attention factor skyrocketed.
With various scouts regularly visiting and asking me to debut, who wouldn’t be interested?
At times, even if I wanted to go to the restroom during break time, I couldn’t because of all the stares.
The one most excited about all this attention wasn’t me, but Kim Min-hyuk.
He seemed to be puffing up with pride now that I was getting attention, as if he couldn’t shed his old habits.
“Donghu, I knew you’d make it big. I’ll be your manager later!”
“I’m thinking of picking someone based on their managerial skills.”
“W-well, I can drive! I’m good at driving; I even got my karting license at the pro level!”
That’s actually quite impressive.
“But is that really comparable to driving in real life?”
Still, it was nice to see him wanting to do something as he grew up, so I nodded.
“Sure, go for it.”
“Really? Then I’ll get my license as soon as I can!”
“Yeah.”
I glanced at Shin Ye-rim, who had changed positions, and she was staring at me intently.
I’ve seen it all.
I want to say something, but I can’t help but hold back my expression.
Maybe they’ll say I’ll be a model, right?
But in the end, Shin Ye-rim didn’t say anything.
“I, I’m going to make an amazing game, with Dong-ho as the hero…”
As expected, Kang Sik declared he would become a game developer.
The moment a vibe of everyone sharing their dreams formed.
‘Wait a minute, doesn’t this mean I’m definitely going to be an actor?’
Suddenly, I felt like my career path had naturally been decided.
I might explore various routes, but at the core, I was going to be an actor.
‘Yeah, I should do acting.’
The moment that conclusion was reached.
Bzzz!
Bzzz!
Bzzz!
Suddenly, my phone vibrated.
It’s on silent, how is it vibrating?
‘What’s this?’
I stole a glance.
As I lowered my head to check the mysterious message.
“…I’ll just step out to the bathroom for a bit.”
“Classes start soon, you know?”
“Just tell them it’s urgent.”
I quickly got up from my seat.
-[Sims – The Real Life]
The sender’s name was incredibly familiar.
‘Why is this?’
Before checking the content, I needed a safe place.
Where would be good? The first-floor staff restroom came to mind.
The only restroom with a bidet, I sat there and checked the content.
-[Sims – The Real Life supports your second life.]
-[Your future has been set as an actor, and your life will be designed accordingly.]
-[Also, this notifies you that the tutorial has ended because of your future settings.]
-[Thus, Sims – The Real Life will assist you in your life from now on.]
What on earth does this mean?
‘So it’s not just a simple reincarnation?’
I did have some doubts.
But I hadn’t thought deeply about it for years since I had received no notifications.
‘So is it really going to proceed more like The Sims?’
Having played for 50,000 hours, I was well-versed in the Sims way.
After the tutorial ends, the most significant thing that happens is.
-[Would you like to check fragmented information about the future?]
That’s when you get an omniscient perspective.